I have nothing to prove, insists Sheffield Wednesday manager Garry Monk

Addressing the press at his unveiling as Sheffield Wednesday manager and exuding positivity. Just as he was at Hillsborough on December 23, 2017.

Fresh from seeing his Middlesbrough side triumph 2-1 at S6, Monk - just down the corridor from where he spoke to journalists on Friday afternoon - heralded a relieving victory for Boro and respite, seemingly, after a difficult start to his managerial tenure on Teesside.

Just hours later Monk was sacked. Happy Christmas...

Wednesday's new gaffer has been through plenty. Despite only celebrating his fortieth birthday earlier this year, Monk has experienced the full range of managerial emotions.

Adulation, rejection. Play-off near-misses, relegation battles. FFP, points deductions. And newspaper allegations about his working relationship with his agent. Sackings.

You name it Monk has probably sampled it. Four clubs in four-and-a-half years and now in situ at his fifth.

Quietly spoken he may be, but Monk is not to be underestimated. A tough cookie with thick skin and someone who retains confidence in his own ability. Someone with bouncebackability.

Monk, who has had to cope sackings at Swansea, Boro and Birmingham firmly on the chin, said: "I don't think I have got anything to prove. I have proved in a short amount of time that I know how to manage numerous players and teams to where I took them and ended with them..

"Unfortunately, every decision made outside of that is out of my hands. I cannot control that, it is up to other people.

"Of course, there have been disappointments along the way and I have not been allowed to go longer. But I feel like I have improved every single club I have been at.

"I don't have to prove myself, I have prove to myself that what I am doing is right and take that experience.

"Of course, on the outside, you have to prove yourself and the expectation is there. But I don't think I have to prove myself as a manager, I think I have already shown that I am capable of managing and doing well and getting the best out of players and teams.

"I understand the demand and am ready for that and relish that. I want to do well for this club, that is the bottom line and I want to make sure it is successful."

Monk's mental strength has also helped him cope with allegations surrounding transfer dealings at previous clubs, charges which he denied.

Sacked by Birmingham in the summer, Blues chief executive Xuandong Ren subsequently claimed that Monk had wanted to use his agent, James Featherstone, in all transfer deals, with Boro and Leeds making similar allegations.

Monk, in a subsequent statement, said he was considering legal action.

On the controversy topic regarding transfers, he is keeping his counsel. For the time being.

"I will talk about that side of it, but not today," he added at his unveiling.

"You have to deal with nonsense in your life and when it is nonsense, you know where you are at and the truth which is inside you.

"I always understand it and I will not be deterred by stuff I cannot control. I cannot control the nonsense that is put out there.

"What you know inside you is the truth and (so do) the people around you and you stay focused on what you are doing and make the most of the opportunities in front of you."